Return of Pointer Value Outside of Expected Range
Draft Base
Structure: Simple
Description
A function can return a pointer to memory that is outside of the buffer that the pointer is expected to reference.
Common Consequences 1
Scope: ConfidentialityIntegrity
Impact: Read MemoryModify Memory
References 2
Seven Pernicious Kingdoms: A Taxonomy of Software Security Errors
Katrina Tsipenyuk, Brian Chess, and Gary McGraw
NIST Workshop on Software Security Assurance Tools Techniques and Metrics • NIST
07-11-2005
ID: REF-6
24 Deadly Sins of Software Security
Michael Howard, David LeBlanc, and John Viega
McGraw-Hill
2010
ID: REF-44
Applicable Platforms
Languages:
C : UndeterminedC++ : Undetermined
Modes of Introduction
Implementation
Functional Areas
- Memory Management
Affected Resources
- Memory
Related Weaknesses
Taxonomy Mapping
- 7 Pernicious Kingdoms
- Software Fault Patterns
Notes
MaintenanceThis entry should have a chaining relationship with Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer instead of a parent / child relationship, however the focus of this weakness does not map cleanly to any existing entries in CWE. A new parent is being considered which covers the more generic problem of incorrect return values. There is also an abstract relationship to weaknesses in which one component sends incorrect messages to another component; in this case, one routine is sending an incorrect value to another.